Ups and Downs

Saturday 15 August - Bulwell Town (home) Won 2-1
Saturday 22 August - Parkhouse FC (away) Lost 0-7
Sunday 16 August - Hull KR 26 St Helens 10

Talk about contrasting emotions! Two weeks into the Central Midlands League season and I've tasted the highs and lows of life in the new surrounds.

A fortnight ago, all the previous nine months' hard graft was made worth it when Meddy came off the bench to fire home a last minute winner against Bulwell Town in our very first game in the Black Dragon Premier Division. Okay so not everything ran smoothly - the crowd (55) was, if I'm honest, about half the figure I'd been hoping for and some gloss was taken off the victory by our opponents' decision not to come back for a pint and a sarny at The Neptune. Still, we managed to shift a good few programmes, the Tea Hut did a roaring trade and the referee & liners only popped across the Bridge from Grimsby and Scunny respectively so we even managed to make a small profit on the day. With no injuries to report and Farny - who missed the game - on the mend ahead of the trip to Parkhouse last Saturday, everything looked "tickety boo" in the words of a well-known former gaffer of the club... ...Then came the debacle that was our defensive performance at the Derbyshire based title favourites. A 7-0 defeat cannot be glossed up to sound like anything other than a good shafting. And so it was. We were well and truly mullahed by a side that totally lived up to its pre-season billing. However, we didn't 'arf contribute to our own downfall. At least three, if not four of the goals could be attributed to horrible mistakes in stupid areas - including the decisive third goal just past the hour mark that seemed to knock the stuffing out of us.

Still, it was nice to hear Parkhouse secretary Nobby Clark offer some words of comfort at the end without sounding patronising - words that were backed up in his report forwarded to Frank Harwood for Saturday evening's league round-up. And as we drove back up the M1 on Saturday night I think we all realised - similar to after our 8-1 stuffing at Chalk Lane last season - that these results do come along from time to time. It doesn't suddenly make us a bad side. And if we bounce back from this one as well as we did the aforementioned reversal on the hideous 3G surface at the University then it may well have done us a huge favour.

While the result was one to forget, everything else about Saturday's first away trip was hugely enjoyable. Not least the "crack" among the lads when travelling as "one unit" for two hours there and the same back.

The ground, Mill Lane, was a very neat affair with several features of the sort we'd like to aspire to at The Farm. Everybody connected with the club was keen to make us welcome, the hospitality was first-class and what an absolute gem of a place the nearby Woodthorpe Inn at Old Tupton proved to be. A super spread laid on (Paul take note - I'll be reporting back with details!!) and no less than four guest ales, of which I deemed it only polite to sample two in the time allowed - the Greene King St Edmunds and the Hyde's "Hit the Spot" - both very quaffable I've got to say (though I would live to regret my eagerness to go the extra pint as we neared the Humber Bridge on the way home with not a toilet in sight!). All in all, it was probably the most enjoyable 7-0 thumping I've ever experienced!

Frustration is the overriding emotion as I approach this Saturday given the postponement of the scheduled home game against Dronfield Town, due to their attendance at a wedding. With half a programme already written, it now means a total re-think ahead of the next home game - v FC 05 - on Sep 5th. Several articles will need to be re-written while some of the planned pieces will be rendered out-of-date. Still, at least we're not totally without a game this weekend. Monday sees us make the "short" trip to Hutton Cranswick - I don't think I've ever described it as that before! Always one of my favourite games in HPL days (but not in terms of results!) I'm looking forward to meeting up with the likes of Denis Cox, Jim Ezard and the rest of what is a very friendly crowd down at Rotsea Lane. Just hope their usually excellent hospitality spreads on to the pitch this time around??!!While the First Team is quite rightly hogging the limelight at the moment, I've been impressed with the initial signs coming from Lee's young Reserve squad. A side comprising only one player over the age of 20 emerged victorious from its latest friendly at Amateur League side Eddie Beedle last week and it's to be hoped the confidence gained from such results will stand them in good stead ahead of the forthcoming Premier Division season, which starts on Saturday Sep 12th.

In amongst all the local stuff going on, Emma and I managed to catch Rovers' highly impressive recent win over St Helens - a fact made all the more enjoyable by our tickets being slap bang in the middle of the travelling contingent i.e. right behind the posts at the end at which Rovers scored most of their 26pts (you can see us here, five rows down from the back, four or five seats in from the right - Emma's adhering to the old saying, "If you can't fight wear a big hat!")

Last Wednesday meanwhile saw me make my first trip of the new season to the KC to see City dismembered by Spurs in their opening Premier League home fixture. A strange one this really. Tottenham were good, very good in fact. But I'd have been disappointed if an Easington side had stood off their opponents the way City did in the first 20mins! Then, after Geo's introduction and Hunt's freakish goal, The Tigers really made a fist of it up to half-time...or rather, just before, when Defoe's "Geoff Hurst-like" finish effectively killed the game at 3-1. Anyway, good to see Browny's men bounce back on Saturday to beat Bolton. Now if we can only do the same at Hutton Cranswick...

(FOOTNOTE: For further info on the aforementioned ales see Greene King)

(PHOTOS from top: Both teams emerge from the changing rooms ahead of the historic opening CMFL fixture at home to Bulwell Town (Burt Graham); Today's Main Attraction (own); The lads prior to the Parkhouse game (own); the "Respect" handshake (Burt Graham); Lee Clay scores his and Parkhouse's fifth goal (Burt Graham); Mill Lane, home of Parkhouse FC (Burt Graham); The North Stand at Craven Park prior to the Hull KR v St Helens game (n/k))

Here We Go Again!

The start of "The CMFL Experience"...

And so after all the waiting, all the hard work and - let's be honest - all the "debate" over the rights and wrongs of the move, tomorrow afternoon will see us kick our first ball in the Central Midlands Football League. The culmination of a year long journey...for some.

For me, however, tomorrow is when the hard work begins. I've spent the last few days reading and re-reading the League handbook checking the specific rules applicable to the competition and hoping that come tomorrow evening not only am I celebrating an opening day win but also that I can relax knowing I've completed all the necessary admin tasks and in particular made all the necessary telephone calls with regards to the result!!

As with any Saturday, tomorrow's work will begin early in the morning - 6.30am to be precise - when the alarm clock will go off and prompt the short dash to BP to print off & collate the day's programmes. Even this task has been made more sizeable following our move of competition - some 22 issues having been pre-ordered via the League thanks to the "Ground Hoppers".

After this task is completed, it's down to Low Farm next via the laundry room at The Marquis of Granby to hang out the kit and ensure all the other match day items are in place - balls, warm-up equipment, bottles and first aid.

Vice Chairman Mickey Bo and Head Groundsman Brim will soon join me - marking and nets are their main tasks along with roping off the side of the ground not covered by permanent perimeter fencing.

Any necessary tidying-up work will also be carried out before it's time to grab a spot of lunch.

During the whole of this morning period I'll be praying the phone doesn't ring with news of some late cry-off among the players and come 12.45pm there'll be chance to catch the first half of Chelsea v City before it's back down to the ground to await the first arrivals.

I haven't got a clue what sort of crowd we'll attract tomorrow. We've been forewarned to expect a fair few "Hoppers" but my main hope is that we'll also pull in a large number of "curious parties" from across Holderness. Would it be too much to hope for something in excess of a hundred? Hope not and if only half buy programmes then that's the match officials sorted!

Match-wise, all I can hope is that the lads play to their full potential - something I know Dave and Neil feel they've not done during pre-season. A win, no injuries and no cautions would be nice ensuring a sweeter taste in the post-match pint and a satisfying twang to Saturday night's curry.

Come Sunday it's chance to wind down with another trip for me and my eldest to Craven Park for the Rovers v Saints game, probably to be followed by the legendary Haven Arms carvery for tea. Ensure the reports are all filed by Sunday night for the respective official bodies and local Press before retiring to bed.

Come Monday there'll be that feeling of relief if everything's gone well...that will last all of five minutes before the planning of Saturday week's trip to Chesterfield to face title favourites Parkhouse takes over!

So if you're in the area tomorrow, pop down to the Farm. You might just enjoy what you see. More importantly if you do, you might just come again!

Up The Ezzies!